Suffocation

Richard Nations' article (Editorial Pages, March 17), "Suffocation in Sanctimony," is both confused and cynical. He first depicts Corazon Aquino as an "aloof saint" who blessed the Filipino people with a democracy. Then, he asserts that the Aquino government is a "tyranny of good intentions." Why? Because he is convinced that President Aquino's personal popularity hinders the "check and balances" in the Philippine system. What the heck is he talking about?

When he arrived at one of Los Angeles' preeminent private high schools seven years ago, baseball coach Matt LaCour knew how to win. He had a CIF championship under his belt. But the self-described "public school kid" was now at Harvard-Westlake School, the destination for many children of L.A.'s business and entertainment elite. In the past, the baseball team didn't win much and routinely let players skip half a double-header. LaCour sought to impose a new ethos: His players' non-class time should be centered on baseball.

A Garden Grove mother who allegedly allowed her baby boy to suffocate in a pile of clothes after she went on a Halloween drinking binge will be arraigned Tuesday in Santa Ana. Corrina Atuatasi, 27, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, child abuse and a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury to a child under the age of 5. If convicted, she faces up to 12 years in prison, Orange County prosecutors said. Atuatasi allegedly left her 2-month-old son in her apartment while she went outside to smoke a cigarette and to a neighbor's apartment for drinks.

Suicide rates among Americans 35 to 64 years old rose 28% from 1999 to 2010, from 13.7 per 100,000 people to 17.6 per 100,000 people, the CDC reported Thursday. The greatest increases occurred in people 50 to 54 years old (up 48%) and among people 55 to 59 years old (up 49%). Among men, suicides in middle-aged people rose 27.3%; among women, 31.5%. Whites and Native Americans had steeper increases than other demographic groups. Rates increased in all states, whether they had relatively high, average or low suicide rates.

Safety officials announced a recall of 24,000 cribs and warned parents against putting their babies to bed with pillows and other soft bedding that could suffocate them. The Indonesian-made cribs, imported by Munire Furniture Inc., have improper brackets that don't allow their mattresses to be fully lowered. This could allow children inside the crib to crawl over the railing and fall. The recall includes the company's Majestic Curved Top, Majestic Flat Top, Essex, Brighton/Sussex and Captiva cribs with various model numbers.

Arrest warrants have been issued for two sisters who, after an argument, allegedly tied up the 42-year-old live-in boyfriend of one of the women, wrapped his head in bed linen and left him in a closet where he died of suffocation, Santa Ana police said Wednesday. Stephanie Rene Vick, 28, and her sister, Sonya Lee Vick, 33, are being sought in connection with the death last month of Antonio Ariza, Santa Ana Police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas said.

An East San Diego woman who telephoned police and told them "I just killed my son" was being questioned Friday night in connection with an apparent attempt to suffocate her infant son with a pillow. James Robert Deems, 22 months old, was in extremely critical condition late Friday night at Children's Hospital, being kept alive with life support systems, according to police and hospital spokesmen. The diagnosis was "probable asphyxiation," hospital spokesman Terry Merryman said.

An unidentified young Asian woman believed to have stowed away in a suitcase on an international flight to Los Angeles died of suffocation because of pressure on her chest, possibly caused by baggage placed on top of her, authorities said Tuesday. Authorities said the victim, whose body was found in the piece of luggage at 3:45 p.m. Monday in the customs baggage area at Los Angeles International Airport, came to the United States on a non-stop flight from either Korea, Japan or Germany.

Mexican police investigators have determined that a San Diego gang member accused in the slaying of a Roman Catholic cardinal was beaten and suffocated with a pillow in his Guadalajara prison cell, authorities said Friday. Police were questioning guards and inmates in the mysterious death of Ramon Torres Mendez. The 24-year-old, known as "Spooky," was one of eight suspected gunmen arrested in the slaying of Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo in May at the Guadalajara airport.

Two sisters sought in the death of a boyfriend found stuffed in a closet had come to Orange County recently from Kansas City to help a third sister, whose baby had been taken away from her by authorities and who was about to be evicted, police said Thursday. The two sisters are also on probation in Kansas City for minor crimes, including failure to appear in court and writing bad checks, said Gary Mata, a Santa Ana police homicide investigator.

A Burbank daycare owner and her employee pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that an 11-month-old boy in their care died last year after allegedly suffocating from a car seat chest strap, officials said. Milena Nikodijevic, 51, owner of Twinkle Little Stars in Burbank, and her employee, Wendy Oropeza, 21, were charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse after the 11-month-old - identified by prosecutors only as Adam D. - died last year under their care, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Her body has not been found, but an actor and martial-arts instructor was charged with second-degree murder Monday in the disappearance of New Hampshire college student Elizabeth “Lizzi” Marriott. Seth Mazzaglia, 29, of Dover, is accused of either strangling or suffocating the 19-year-old marine biology student to death sometime after she disappeared after class last Tuesday night, according to charges read against Mazzaglia by a Dover District Court judge on Monday. How the authorities reached that conclusion is less clear, as searchers still haven't found her body, and investigators remained tight-lipped on what evidence led them to Mazzaglia.

A convicted South Los Angeles serial rapist was sentenced to death Thursday for sexually assaulting and suffocating a 16-year-old girl, whose body was wrapped in a comforter, set ablaze and dumped in an alley. Latece Megale Brown, 41, smiled and laughed as he spoke to his lawyers in a downtown courtroom during a hearing at which a judge described the 2003 killing as a "cold, vicious murder. " L.A. County Superior Court Judge Bob S. Bowers Jr. noted that the 6-foot-4-inch Brown, who weighed about 450 pounds when he was arrested, intentionally sat on the victim, Jacquiese Williams, until she was dead.

A Garden Grove mother who allegedly allowed her baby boy to suffocate in a pile of clothes after she went on a Halloween drinking binge will be arraigned Tuesday in Santa Ana. Corrina Atuatasi, 27, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, child abuse and a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury to a child under the age of 5. If convicted, she faces up to 12 years in prison, Orange County prosecutors said. Atuatasi allegedly left her 2-month-old son in her apartment while she went outside to smoke a cigarette and to a neighbor's apartment for drinks.

An Orange County man was convicted Thursday of torturing and murdering his adult daughter and keeping her body in a freezer in his recreational vehicle. Clarence Eugene Butterfield, 57, formerly of San Clemente, was found guilty by a Santa Ana jury of one felony count of special-circumstances murder during the commission of torture and mayhem, and one felony count of assault with a firearm, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. On Oct. 8, he faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Infantino recalled more than 1 million baby slings after three children suffocated, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday. Consumers should stop using the SlingRider and Wendy Bellissimo slings for children younger than 4 months and contact San Diego-based Infantino for a free replacement, the agency said. The commission said it's aware of deaths in Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Salem, Ore., last year. "Do not attempt to fix these carriers," the agency said.

Infantino recalled more than 1 million baby slings after three children suffocated, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday. Consumers should stop using the SlingRider and Wendy Bellissimo slings for children younger than 4 months and contact San Diego-based Infantino for a free replacement, the agency said. The commission said it's aware of deaths in Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Salem, Ore., last year. "Do not attempt to fix these carriers," the agency said.

Suicide rates among Americans 35 to 64 years old rose 28% from 1999 to 2010, from 13.7 per 100,000 people to 17.6 per 100,000 people, the CDC reported Thursday. The greatest increases occurred in people 50 to 54 years old (up 48%) and among people 55 to 59 years old (up 49%). Among men, suicides in middle-aged people rose 27.3%; among women, 31.5%. Whites and Native Americans had steeper increases than other demographic groups. Rates increased in all states, whether they had relatively high, average or low suicide rates.

More than 2 million drop-side cribs built by Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc. are being recalled in the U.S. and Canada after the deaths of four infants. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Canadian government agency Health Canada issued the voluntary recall Monday in cooperation with Stork Craft, based in British Columbia. The recall includes more than 1.2 million cribs sold in the United States and 968,000 cribs sold in Canada, the commission said in a recall statement.

Police are speculating that accidental suffocation, not suicide, may have caused the death of American cult actor David Carradine, whose body was found in a hotel closet in the Thai capital with a rope tied to his neck, wrist and genitals. Celebrity blogs and social networking Web sites were abuzz with news of the death of Carradine -- best known for the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu." The circumstances under which he died have led to speculation that the 72-year-old actor may have been engaged in a dangerous form of sex play known as auto-erotic asphyxiation.